arc

Was considering going along to arc for a bit this weekend, but given the soup-like consistency of the outside air, I think I'll pass. Based on past experience, the steaming clouds of wargamer sweat rolling through the building will be totally unbearable.

Who wouldn't want to be The Pork Queen, after all?

The Iowa Pork Producers Association announces that it may retire a contest used to promote its product -- due to the lack of interest among young Iowa women in being designated "Pork Queen." These days, surprisingly, only a handful of hopefuls enter the porcine pageant, which started back in 1960.

... from Business 2.0's 101 Dumbest Moments for 2005 list

spin, my pretties! spin!

"Regretfully, AWB's reputation has been significantly damaged as a result of the company's participation in the United Nations Oil For Food Program and subsequent media coverage," states the ad in today's Australian newspaper.

No, you fuckheads, it's been damaged as a result of your BRIBING SADDAM HUSSEIN. Last time I looked, that wasn't a compulsory part of the Oil For Food program. Well, not officially, anyway.

And gee, blaming the media coverage? That's pretty tragic. "Sure, I fucked the chicken, but if the photographer wasn't there, who'd have known?"

more randomness...

• George Galloway dismisses criticism over his three weeks on Celebrity Big Brother as "sanctimonious humbug" -- Funnily enough, that's pretty much how I've taken to thinking about Galloway, too.
  
  
• But worse, McGauran's actions and the Costello Liberals' reactions have deepened the gulf between Victoria's two conservative parties. The relationship, such as it is, is now marked by equal measures of hostility and contempt. -- Yes, I hold the Nats and the Libs about equal in contempt, too. Lots more fun understatement in this article, including -- Ryan, pumping with the adrenaline of an angry man, rang Doyle on Monday morning, soon after hearing of McGauran's defection. It was a brief and mainly one-way conversation. Ryan gave Doyle the benefit of a free character assessment of McGauran -- Sure, it's only the state liberal/nationals, but it still makes me smile to see them tearing into each other. [update] And I'd dearly, dearly love to hear that character assessment of McGauran. I wonder if any of the words "jizzrag", "shitstain", or simply "motherfucker" were used?
  
  
• Health authorities are clamping down on the Thai teenage fashion fad of wearing fake orthodontic braces... -- Whisky Tango Foxtrotting Foxtrotting Foxtrot? I Do Not Understand The Mating Rituals Of You Earthlings.